Harry Watson's High School Days Part 25

"Sure!" answered the other member of the crew; "it's the most obliging old river you ever heard tell of. Miles and miles it stretches away, sometimes narrow, and again broad; but if this wind only holds out, we can spin along like fun for more'n an hour. Hit her up, Harry, let's see just what the bully contraption carries up her sleeve. After 'em with a hot stick now!"

Really, Harry needed no urging. The spirit of sport had been fully aroused in his breast. Forgotten for the time being, were all those grim troubles that had of late been making life so miserable for the boy. He only seemed to remember that once more his hand grasped the tiller of a staunch ice flier; and that a derisive challenge had floated back from the boat ahead.

And possibly, the fact that the two fellows who manned the _Glider_ were his most bitter and unscrupulous enemies, had more or less to do with Harry's determination to beat the rival boat. He would not have been human had he felt otherwise; and while Harry possessed many fine attributes, he was after all, only a boy at heart.

The _Lightning_ had, of course, lost considerable of her headway when the skipper ran in so close to the high bank; but she was gradually veering further away now, with every second.

On the other hand, the opposing boat had come out of the Cranberry under a full sail; and s.h.i.+fting her course, was running up the Conoque with a speed that opened quite a gap between the rival craft.

Then in turn Harry and Paul saw that they were getting opposite the mouth of the smaller stream, where the wind would be wholly un.o.bstructed. No sooner had this occurred than they jumped ahead as though some unseen power had taken the boat in tow.

"How about it now?" asked the skipper, wis.h.i.+ng to have Paul report progress; as he had about all he could do in taking care of the skimming ice craft, watching how the wind acted on the sail, keeping a cautious eye out for any obstruction in the way of a branch of a tree frozen in the ice, or possibly an air hole which, if not avoided, might spell disaster to the pursuing boat.

"We are sure holding our own, Harry!" exclaimed Paul, delightedly.

That was an experience new to him; for up to now the _Glider_ had mocked all efforts to equal her extraordinary speed. But Harry knew that, as yet, he had not put the new boat to her "best licks," as he termed it.

She was capable of better things.

This was just the time and opportunity for one who knew all about the tricks which an iceboat is capable of developing, to coax her to show her fine points; and that was what Harry was now starting to do.

Perhaps the boats were about equal in merit. Possibly, had the crews been reversed, Harry and Paul could have overtaken the _Lightning_, given time with the older craft. In other words, it was a case of superior knowledge and ability on the part of the skipper of the _Lightning_, rather than the possession of a better boat; for the _Glider_ was certainly what she had always been called, a "marvel."

"Wow! we're gaining, I do believe, Harry!" announced Paul, a minute later; and there was a touch of actual doubt in his voice, as though the fact might be almost too good to be true.

"Are we?" answered his chum, just as though it were nothing more than he had been expecting right along.

"Yes, as sure as anything we must be," Paul went on excitedly. "I'm trying to judge distances with my eye; and honest now, I believe we're not so far behind as when we first pa.s.sed the mouth of the Cranberry!

Oh! it's great! Keep her moving just as she is, Harry! Do you think you can? That wasn't only a spurt, I hope!"

"She can do even better than that, Paul. Watch me now, for I'm on to a new little dodge. Keep an eye for blow-holes, and branches frozen in the ice. And Paul, s.h.i.+ft your weight just a trifle this way. I believe the balance will be more even."

Another short interval followed. Then Paul gave vent to his delight again.

"You did something then that just made her hump herself. Why, Harry, we're clawing up on the old _Glider_ hand over fist! Look at 'em moving around, will you? They're getting scared, that's what! Elmer never yet saw another boat creeping up after him when he was doing his level best to fly. Bully! Bully! Oh, ain't we just humming along, though!"

It was no easy matter to speak while they were cutting through s.p.a.ce at such a tremendous pace and Paul would have done better to have saved his breath; but he had waited and hoped for this great day so long, that he just could not bottle up his delight.

Not a sound could they hear around them save the whistle of the wind through the ropes above, or the sharp humming music of the runners spurning the smooth ice. Pud had long since ceased to shout derisive cries back at the pursuers. His scorn and mocking gestures had changed into nervous movements, as he tried to increase the speed of the _Glider_ by altering his position from time to time.

When another five minutes had pa.s.sed, though it seemed an hour to the impatient Paul, they had gained so much upon the other boat that the two were now within easy speaking distance. Yet strange to say, those on the _Glider_ maintained a dead silence, that was quite unusual to their buoyant natures. It makes considerable difference whether one is on a winning or a losing craft.

Paul, however, could not keep still. This experience almost set him wild with delight. And where could you find a boy who would decline to rub it in a little, given the chance?

"Hey! you there!" he hallooed, using his hands as a megaphone; "get out of the way, and give us room. We're going to pa.s.s you, and let you take our dust! Sheer off to one side, and let us have the middle of the river! We've earned the right of way. Lively now, Elmer! You're a back number after this, with your out-of-date boat! To the sc.r.a.p heap for yours!"

Perhaps it was hardly kind of Paul to add to the humiliation which Elmer must naturally be feeling, as he thus saw that the _Glider_ was plainly playing "second fiddle" to the new iceboat; but it must be remembered that for years now, the son of the richest man in Rivertown had lost no opportunity to sneer at Paul, and humiliate him when he had the chance.

Apparently the two who crouched there on the _Glider_ were at their wits' ends to discover some means for increasing their speed. They seemed to be exchanging warm sentences, and Harry even thought he heard Elmer's rasping voice raised in anger, as though he might be trying to lay the burden of the blame on the bully, whose extra weight might be just the cause for the difference in speed of the two boats.

Pud could also be heard answering back, and it sounded as though he were telling his comrade that the fault lay in his lack of skill in managing the _Glider_, rather than the handicap of weight.

"Can we pa.s.s 'em, d'ye think?" gasped Paul, as they drew still closer to the leading boat, on which a dead silence had now fallen.

"Easy enough, unless Elmer chooses to play some trick on us," replied Harry.

"Oh! would he dare do that, when we're spinning along at this mad clip?"

demanded the owner of the new boat.

"You know him better than I do, Paul," replied Harry. "I don't like the look on his face. He keeps turning his head, then grinning in a nasty way; after which he looks ahead, just as if he was sizing up some desperate chance. I think he means to foul us up if he can; and anyhow it's going to be a hard thing to pa.s.s him up here, where n.o.body can see any dirty play."

Paul seemed to consider. No doubt discretion urged him to call the race off; but on the other hand he disliked very much to quit just when he had his rival where he had wanted to see him so long.

A fisherman never calls a trout his own until he has the prize in his hands; even though he may humanely throw the speckled beauty back into the water again. And in a race it does not really count, unless you actually pa.s.s your adversary.

So Paul, with boyish recklessness, determined to take the chances for trouble, and pa.s.s the _Glider_, come what might. He knew Elmer to be somewhat reckless; but found it hard to believe that the other would risk having his own bones broken, just to smash the successful boat of his rival.

But Paul counted wrongly. Elmer, when he became enraged, was not the same cool, calculating schemer that he had the name of being under normal conditions. And, urged on by the sarcastic sneers of the ugly Pud, as well as his own keen disappointment at seeing his pet iceboat fairly beaten, he might even take chances which at another time would have appalled him.

"That's too bad!" Paul heard Harry exclaim.

"Oh, what's happened?" Paul cried, in sudden alarm. "Are we going to lose out, after all that magnificent gain? But Harry, see, we're still creeping up! Only twenty feet more, and we'll be on even terms! What do you mean?"

"Look far ahead!" answered Harry.

"I see that the river narrows again," the other boy replied instantly.

"Is that what you mean?"

"Yes. We're going to have to try and pa.s.s, while in that narrow stretch!" Harry sent across to his reclining chum; for their heads were only a few feet apart.

"But there's plenty of room for both! I remember that cut well, Harry! I had my canoe upset there once, shooting the rapids when the river was low in Summer. Yes, it's sure wide enough for even five boats abreast!"

"If they're piloted by honest fellows, who mean to deal squarely with each other," said Harry, significantly.

Paul was conscious of the fact that his chum was putting the decision squarely up to him. He felt a little uneasy. What if they should meet with a serious accident in trying to pa.s.s the _Glider_ in such confined quarters? Was it right for him to drag Harry into this peril?

"What ought we do, Harry?" he demanded, quickly; for they were rus.h.i.+ng toward the place where the banks of the Conoque drew closer together, and fast overtaking the rival boat.

"Are you willing to take the risk?" came the immediate reply.

"Yes; but how about you?" asked Paul.

"I'm with you, Paul," the pilot sent back, impetuously. "The chance is too good to be lost. And perhaps I can find a way to outwit him, if he tries any funny business. Be ready to do your part like lightning, if I give the word."

"I'm on! Go it, for all you're worth, Harry!"

There was really no time for further words. They had now reached the beginning of the narrows, and at the same time found themselves close up with the tail end of the other iceboat.

Paul, sending one nervous glance that way, could see Pud Snooks glaring at them as though he could eat either of the two alive. There was an expression on his heavy face that bordered on desperation; and Paul became more than ever convinced that Elmer and his crony must have made up their minds to attempt some crooked play, in the hope of balking the efforts of the _Lightning's_ crew to pa.s.s them.